Olde Towne East

When I was researching possible neighborhoods for our family to land in Columbus while still in California, I came across many names that meant nothing to me: Dublin, New Albany, Gahanna, Bexley, Upper Arlington, Grandview. These are, naturally, more family-friendly neighborhoods with good schools, sidewalks and the like. After a few months here, these names are very familiar to me. I think I might have even been to them all, for one reason or another.

The neighborhood of Olde Towne East (OTE) came up occasionally during my research. It was not on my radar screen as much, but I sure know that name, and that it is somewhere between Bexley and downtown Columbus. I had been by it a few times, and even had lunch at the Black Creek Bistro. Still, I was a bit puzzled about the neighborhood.

I was determined to find out more about it today, on this beautiful fall day when everyone seems joyous and carefree like the leaves that are falling off the trees. I went down a few streets in this so called 'Olde Towne East' section of town, snapped a few photos, and walked onto Parsons street, into Voda Emporium.

Two gentlemen, co-owners of the shop, greeted me warmly. They shared with me a little history of OTE, how it used to be home to important people of the city, with their grand mansions that still stand today. In the 70s, apparently, things went south and it became an unsafe place to be. Just more recently, there is an effort to revitalize and bring more people to the area.

Voda Emporioum has two sections, one with mostly locally made goods: cards, art, candles, kitchenware, dog treats and more! The other section is a hair salon, well tucked away, but roomy enough to be part of the whole place. In the mornings, they also serve coffee and pastries for those on the run! How cool is that?

The owners tell me that a cafe is about to open next door to them, any day now! And a few doors down the street is the aforementioned Black Creek Bistro as well as a (so I am told) a popular bar called Carabar. Across the street, I see signs for galleries, too. Is this a mini-version of the Short North?

Downtown is just down the road from OTE.

If you are interested, Olde Towne East is holding a Fall Festival this Saturday from noon to 10pm. Here is where you find more information.

I am sure I am not the only one to be excited about the revitalization of this little neighborhood!

Columbus Food Adventures

Bethia invited me to join her for the tour of Short North today.

I had never been on a food tour before, and did not know quite what to expect. All I knew was that I needed to show up hungry!

Bethia runs tours under her company, Columbus Food Adventures, which she founded a few months ago. Her Short North tour is a walking tour of the restaurants and interesting sites of the area. She started it all, appropriately, at the North Market. We had 7 people in the group, and we were all ready and hungry for the tour. We started inside the North Market where Bethia showed us a few places that sell wonderful local products: Bluecreek Farm, the Greener Grocer, among others.

We then headed to Knead, where I had the best grilled cheese sandwich of my life (made with beer bread!).

They try to use local products from all over Ohio as you can see on the map here.

Next was Le Chocoholique, a beautifully presented chocolatier with chocolates from all over the country.

After tasting delicious morsels of goodness, we headed to the bakery where all the bread for Tasi and Rigsby's are made (they do not sell their products here, but you can get them at Tasi Cafe). The baker spent a few minutes explaining the process and their products. And of course we got taste some bread!

Of course where else would we go after seeing the bread being made, but to Tasi itself...



We were served different kinds of bread, and some mac-and-cheese that is way more sophisticated than the kind I make for my children at home (it included some bacon, if you were interested!)!


And to round things up, we stopped at Rigsby's where the ambiance matched the food on the plates they served. This salad was very seasonally appropriate with locally grown heirloom tomatoes and watermelon, topped with goat cheese and fresh herbs.


Last, but not least (although I had no more room in my tummy), was Jeni's ice cream (which will deserve its own blog post here later).

We were all treated to three different flavors...and boy, were there options to choose from?! I enjoyed watching my new friends enjoying their Jeni's, while I purchased some (Mango Lassi Frozen Yogurt) to take home.


I was not only full and happy leaving the tour, I also felt much more knowledgeable about the Short North, a bit of its history, and its reincarnation to become one of Columbus' best spots for businesses, the arts, and some very fine dining and wandering. Needless to say, I highly recommend taking a tour with Columbus Food Adventures. Just remember to show up hungry!

German Village

When we first visited Columbus, we wanted to live in German Village.

Who wouldn't? It's quaint, it's warm, it's a walkable community complete with a bookshop, coffee shops, deli, fine dining, dentists, lawyers, you name it!

Then reality sunk in, and with two young children, it would not be right for us to choose this neighborhood to settle when we could be in a house with a tree and a yard!

German village has a long history, and it is one of this city's prides and gems. It sits just south of downtown, right off the freeway. But when you are in it, walking about like I was doing the other day, you can almost imagine the old days with horse drawn carts and men with tall hats. You almost expect to hear German spoken from the next person you walk by. I know there are lots to explore in this neighborhood... But I would just go there for the experience of the sense of place that it embodies.