Village Lights and Bierberg Bakery revisited

We missed it last year: the night when German Village puts on a little show with thousands of luminaries along the sidewalks where stores and galleries stay open late into the night. It's a festive way of welcoming the holiday season, Columbus-style.



We missed it last year because it was cold. I know, it sounds a little sad that we wouldn't venture out just because the thermostat didn't peak beyond 20 something degrees. But remember, we were newbies to the midwest winter; our thin skin was adjusting to the drastic changes of the season. We took a rain check and promised to try it again next year.

And poof! Just like that, here we are a year later. That rain check became more literal than we would have liked. The precipitation started coming down in the late afternoon, testing our courage to experience our first Village Lights. The air was warm, however, despite the rain. We had no excuse. Besides, I needed to introduce my family to the best kept secret in Columbus this time of year (well, maybe not such a secret anymore!).

















No matter the temperature, or precipitation, dear fellow Columbus residents, the Village Lights in German Village, and a visit to Bierberg Bakery should be on your early December agenda (the former, you will have to wait for next year, but the latter, you still have until the rest of the year to experience).
The bakery will warm your body, and the lights, your soul. Here's an early happy holidays to all!

Pattycake Bakery

Is it bad that I had not been to Pattycake Bakery until today?



I think it is. After all, I have seen, and eaten Pattycake baked goods several times before (in the last 8 months that we have been in Columbus...eight months have past, amazing!). They are sold at several places around town, and they sure are delicious (and vegan, and some are gluten free!). I honestly didn't know that there was a store-front, a real little bakery of a place where I can walk in and look longingly at all the possibilities.



After a morning at Urban Acupuncture, and a satisfying lunch at Lavash Cafe, my friend suggested that we meandered to Pattycake Bakery for a little something sweet.



I loved the blue table and chair instantly and wished they were for sale as well. But I was able to let go of the love (for now), and settled for a lemony cupcake instead.

It was not blue, or practical, but I think my choice for the cupcake (over the table and chair set) was a mighty good one.

Pattycake Bakery

614.784.2253

info@pattycakeveganbakery.com

hours:
mon-fri: 8-7
sat: 9-6
sun: 11-4

Pattycake Bakery
3009 N. High Street
Columbus OH, 43202

The Angry Baker

Last week, through Columbus Underground, I found out that there is a new bakery about to open in my neck of the woods.



After being iced in for a couple of days with little children running around the house putting me on the verge of insanity, it was time to venture out into the world, and say hello to the new bakery: The Angry Baker.



First, you've got to like the name, right? Or be curious, at least? Vicki, the owner, and baker, is far from being angry when I visited the bakery today. She was busy behind the counter making lunches and taking croissants out of the oven. But she was not angry. If anything, she seemed rather serene. (There is a story behind the name in the ColumbusUnderground article).


An unfinished Menu Board, looking pretty against the brick wall

The bakery is on Oak St, right across from Yellow Brick Pizza (a place I have yet been to), in the Olde Town East area of town. Being new here, I can only say that these two eateries and a few other businesses on Parsons St, seem to be giving Olde Town East a bit of a come-back. A great reason to rejoice!



The Angry Baker offers a variety of baked goods as well as breakfast and lunch items. I left with two scrumptious looking things: an oversized eclaire and a vegan brownie. I am kindly saving the latter for my children for their post-school snack, but the eclaire? In my tummy. It was one of the better eclaires I have had in a long time.  Maybe ever, actually.

The Angry Baker
891 Oak Street
Columbus, OH 43205
(614) 946-0583

Cherbourg, Revisited

The warmth and aroma inside Cherbourg Bakery was a wonderful way to spend a little time on this icy, grey day!



Here are just some images from my visit there earlier today.



Needless to say, if you have not tried it, you have to go. Soon!

Cherbourg Bakery

Even though I am not a gluten-free or gluten-intolerant eater, I was very excited when I heard a couple of months ago that a new (gluten-free, nut-free) bakery was opening up in Bexley, just down the road from where I now live!



Now that I have mostly emerged from my foggy world of being jetlagged, I paid the new bakery a visit today. I was lucky to have met Shari there, one of the owners of this new, bright, happy, and very tasty place: Cherbourg Bakery.

I asked about the origin of the name Cherbourg, which I later found out is a port city in France.


"Geri fell in love with this city when she was visiting France," said Shari. "When she came back and told her stories to her family, she found out that there is a lot more family history tied to the city of Cherbourg."

The full story can be found on their blog... I love stories behind names like this!



Cherbourg Bakery has been in existence for a while, actually, just not with its own store-front. Their gluten-free offerings have been available through wholesale, and have been very popular amongst the gluten-free food community. I was instantly confirmed why Cherbourg needed to grow when I took a bite of their lemon bars.



If you a lemon-bar lover like me, you would know a good bar from a bad one. Cherbourg's had the perfect complement of the sweet and the sour custardy top that crunches just enough when you bite from the surface. The crust is moist and buttery, and in no way tells me that there is no gluten in it!

I was sold.

Shari tells me that they are in their 'soft' opening phase right now, with their grand opening day expected on January 26, 2011. Their will be samples and cheer to be had from 5:30-6:30pm on that day.

The decor alone is worth a visit... Something about that bright blue will make you instantly happy, I tell you! Plus a bite of something sweet and a cup of warm coffee... I think I will be back there often.

Cherbourg Bakery
541 S. Drexel Ave.
Bexley, OH 43209
614-725-5460

Yosick's Last Days

Can you believe that I used to tell people that I didn't really care for chocolate? Maybe I was temporarily insane, or maybe I really didn't like it that much. Well, I have changed and gotten normal now. I do love chocolate. Yes, I do.



I had heard about Yosick's from a few people. In fact, when I was trying to get directions to Bierberg the other day, the lady at Katsinger's wanted to steer me to Yosick's. I politely said no, that's not what I was looking for. 


Until today, that is.



Columbus Underground posted this morning that Yosick's door is closing at the end of the year. This prompted me to look at the calendar, and soon after, jumped in the car.



After dropping off some more copies of Edible Columbus at the sweet ladies at Bierberg Bakery, I turned north, on the same street (5th) in German Village.

Yosick's sits in the corner, adjacent to a massage therapy office (hello...chocolate and then massage?! Too bad it was closed). The friendly store lady, Megan, greeted me and even offered to plate up some truffle pieces for me if I wanted to take photographs. Why indeed!



Not only did I take photographs, and chatted with Megan (a chocolatiere in the making herself), I purchased all those truffles you see in the first photograph up there. Presents for friends, I tell myself. Although, I did allow myself to taste one: a heart with some kind of rum filling. Heaven.

I am sad to hear that this sweet little spot will be closed for good comes Christmas Day. Megan assured me that Kristy, the owner and artist behind Yosick's, will continue to produce these beautiful and delicious chocolates that can be purchased online, and I believe, in some places within Columbus.

In the mean time, their door is wide open, and I can tell you that I would be a happy recipient of these morsels as a decadent holiday gift!

Yosick's
539 South 5th Street
Columbus, OH 43206-1203
(614) 223-9575

Bierberg Bakery

I might have found another favorite spot in the city.



It's been such a cold stretch, and I have had a sick child home with me the last few days. Now that he is back in school, I had a bunch of errands I needed to do out and about.



Before I headed out the door, I made a note to myself that a stop at this (infamous) little hidden gem had to be on my itinerary.



The secret about this tiny German bakery is no longer, especially if you have seen the article in the new Winter issue of Edible Columbus. Surprisingly, however, many people still don't know about it. Take the two people I asked for directions at Katzinger's who looked at me like I had three heads.

No matter, I put in the address into my GPS and a few minutes later, I was parked in front of a well signed and decorated, yet unassuming, store front: Bierberg Bakery.

An older German lady greeted me. She had a thick accent still, even though she and her husband moved here since the 60s. As I entered and regained my senses from the freezing cold temperatures (really Columbus, why so cold?!), I started to take in all the scents and smells of all the cookies that laid before me.

I did not count, but there must have been a few dozen different kinds of cookies. These special German cookies are only made here, in this tiny house, 3 months out of every year. Johanna, friend and baker, told me how busy they had been and will continue to be until the end of the year when she will again close up shop and retreat to her much deserved rest.

After I purchased some good-looking cookies, as well as a stollen, I asked if I could slip into the kitchen and watched them work a little.

Another lady in the kitchen, Cathy, is a family-friend. She helps out each year at the bakery. While Johanna and Cathy cut up more cookies to be baked, they recited to me their stories of how they ended up in Columbus (because you know, as a transplant myself, I am always interested!).

As it turns out, they were both sponsored to move to the States from Europe, Johanna from Germany and Cathy from Hungary. I listened with curiosity as Cathy told me the story about her family living in a castle in Germany where several other immigrant families took refuge.  Their hands never stopped working, but they seemed to enjoy reliving their past with me as their audience.

As I turned around to say goodbye, they wished me well in discovering my new home city. I told them that I was happy to have met people like them because that is what matters the most. Johanna agreed with me, and then she added: It's also what you give back, too. That's also very important. Don't forget to give back."

She is absolutely right.

Bierberg Bakery
729 S 5th St.
Columbus, OH

They will be open until the end of the year.